Democratic House Speaker Sara Gideon of Freeport and Gov. Paul LePage met Friday to discuss his proposal to build a new 21-bed psychiatric facility next door to the state’s Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta.
Gideon says progress was made at the meeting, and that they agree there is a need for the facility and that it should be built on the proposed location adjacent to Riverview.
“We did not go into really the policy details of this. We talked about the fact we want this facility built, we want it built in Augusta and how do we get there,” she says.
Gideon says she has to discuss options with other leaders including Republican Senate President Michael Thibodeau, but she says a public hearing on the proposal is likely.
“That would be a likely, logical forum so that the public could weigh in and people could understand what is really happening here,” she says.
Gideon hopes the issue can be resolved by Christmas. Because the planned facility is located within the capitol area, it must be approved by the legislative council.
LePage spokeswoman Adrienne Bennett agrees the meeting was productive, but says if the approval process is dragged out, the governor will act to build the facility at a location that does not need legislative council approval.
“If that doesn’t happen in a timely fashion the Governor is ready to move forward and make the decisions to make it happen. If that means moving to a different area, he will do that,” she says.
